Asia Bibi Appeal Hearing Delayed

The scheduled Supreme Court hearing in the case against Pakistani Christian wife and mother Asia Bibi was postponed today when one of the judges scheduled to hear the case recused himself. No new hearing date was announced.

Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman stepped down from hearing the case, saying that he had also been a judge in a related case. ”I was a part of the bench that was hearing the case of Salmaan Taseer, and this case is related to that,” he told the court. Taseer was a provincial governor who spoke out on behalf of Asia Bibi and was subsequently assassinated in 2011. His killer, Mumtaz Qadri, was executed earlier this year, which led to great unrest in Pakistan.

VOM contacts in Pakistan say thousands of extra policemen had been deployed in Islamabad ahead of the hearing in an effort to maintain law and order.

VOM’s Todd Nettleton was asked to comment on the situation for this story from WORLD Magazine.

You can write a letter to Asia Bibi, as well as a letter to Pakistani government officials, at www.PrisonerAlert.com. Please continue to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.